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Focal Point, Volume 02 Number 04, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

In the last two decades there has been a movement in the mental health field toward improved services to children and families who are members or" minority populations. Recognized as at risk and underserved, families of minority populations have repeatedly been the subjects of research and demonstration projects. Mental health professionals serving these children and families today are faced with the nagging question: "What constitutes appropriate services for minority clients?" Fortunately, the cumulative results of twenty years of work in this area are now becoming apparent. The knowledge base has grown and models for working cross-culturally have been developed and …

Hedonic Analysis Of Gasoline Retailing, Soleman A. Al-Bassir

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers have difficulty modeling the influence of retailing attributes on consumer choice. The literature of retailing that has dealt with this issue has conventionally used experimental data for estimating the influence of retailing attributes on consumer behavior. The present research applies hedonic analysis to the measurement of the value of retailing attributes. This is accomplished by applying hedonic specifications to supply and demand models for the retail sales of unleaded gasoline for the purpose of estimating the influence of specified retailing attributes on retail prices. Four retailing attributes-accessibility, convenience, service, and competition-were expected to have a determinable value that was …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet June 1988, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The June 1988 Monthly packet includes the June agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held May 1988.

Effects Of Feedback And Goal Setting On Job Attitudes And Productivity: A Field Study, Stephen Kildahl

Dissertations and Theses

Two theories of work motivation taken from the field of Industrial/Organizational Psychology were compared in a six-week field experiment at a Fortune 500 company. A Job Enrichment Model (Hackman & Oldham, 1975) was used and the Motivating Potential Score (MPS) of three groups of machine operators was obtained before and after a six-week productivity study. Three goal conditions based on Goal Theory (Locke, 1968) were assigned one to each of three groups of machine operators and comparisons were made between the treatment groups. Production increases resulted from providing goals and feedback to subjects, but these increases were not statistically significant. …

Effects Of Graded And Steady Exercise And Self-Confidence On Stress, Kristine M. Clarke

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the effects of steady, graded, and no exercise on stress reduction, and the effects of self-confidence on stress reduction through exercise. Seventy-two male and female volunteers from the Portland area, ranging in age from 19-49 years, served as subjects. Subjects completed pre and post measures of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the state portion of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Subjects were divided into two experimental and one control group matched according to age and exercise history. The control group kept its exercise at a minimum for eight weeks. Exercise programs for the two experimental groups consisted …

Grace Wick: Portrait Of A Right-Wing Extremist, June Melby Benowitz

Dissertations and Theses

"Grace Wick: Portrait of a Right-Wing Extremist" is a biography of an American woman who lived between 1888 and 1958. Wick grew up in a small midwestern town, but as a young woman broke away from small town tradition by moving to the city to pursue a career as an actress in the theater and in silent movies. In the course of her acting career she traveled across North America and had the opportunity to associate with people from all walks of life. As an actress, she was able to achieve an autonomy enjoyed by few women during the 1910s …

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published quarterly. In this issue: Under the direction of Lee Casperson, PSU’s laser research lab is affecting the way the world uses lasers; helping crime labs identify skeletal remains has become a fascinating sideline for anthropologist Ann Bennett; conservative investing lessened the blow of October’s Black Monday for alumnus Richard Huson and his clients; the University’s 35 Advisory Councils are creating new bonds between PSU and the community; and more.

Identifying Pedophiles With The Mmpi, Margaret M. Seits

Dissertations and Theses

The present study investigated the validity of the Pe (Toobert, Bartelme, & Jones, 1959) and Sexual Deviancy (Marsh, Hilliard, & Liechti, 1955) subscales, developed from the MMPI, to determine if the scales would discriminate convicted sexual offenders from nonsexual offenders.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet April 1988, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The April 1988 Monthly packet includes the April agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held March 1988.

Residential Care Facilities: Resident Characteristics And Public Policy, Sharon Anice Baggett

Dissertations and Theses

Residential care is a rapidly growing form of housing and service provision for older adults. Residential care policy is defined by historical and cultural influences in social welfare and by the history of policy development and regulation in long term care, specifically for nursing homes. These influences have played a large role in the growing regulatory environment for residential care.

This study examines the characteristics of elderly residential care facility (RCF) residents and examines these through the lens of current state and federal regulations concerning the type of care given in these facilities. It is hypothesized that the lack of …

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo: Self And Close-Other Selection Of Personality Test Interpretations, Sheela Word

Dissertations and Theses

In a study investigating the ability of subjects and their close friends or relatives (close-others) to recognize subject personality test results under conditions which controlled for the Barnum effect, 64 male and female undergraduate psychology students were administered the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Each subject later attempted to choose his or her own unidentified CPI profile from among three, and a close-other of the subject independently made the same selection. It was found that 57.81% of subjects and 45.31% of close others were able to correctly identify subject profiles; these results were significant at the .0001 and .05 levels respectively. …

The Unveiling, Elizabeth Heron

Dissertations and Theses

The method I use in creating abstract sculpture presented the question that became the subject of my Master's thesis. Only occasionally will I create from a pre-conceived concept. The sculptures evolve through a process of addition and subtraction of material to something that simply pleases me. This method, really no method at all, seemed contradictory to my original intentions. My artistic goals were purposeful; I wanted to create sculpture that would provoke a reaction first, not a judgment of features. I wanted the viewers emotional and psychological involvement to be the basis for content and meaning in the work.

In …

Focal Point, Volume 02 Number 02, Portland State University. Regional Research Institute

Research and Training Center - Focal Point

Twenty-four parents and professionals from around the country recently attended a training session in Portland, Oregon designed to promote and improve parent/professional collabora tion to better serve children with emotional handicaps. The overall training goal was to provide each of the parent/professional teams with materials and skills they could take back to their regions and share through local workshops. The training workshop was held October 5-9, 1987 on the campus of Portland State University, and was hosted by the Research and Training Center to Improve Services for Seriously Emotionally Handicapped Children and The ir Families.

The Relationship Of The Perception Of Choice And Positive Behavior Change In Adolescent Residential Treatment With Future Success In The Community, Rita Harding Mcclellan

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of clients' perception of choice in treatment planning and the clients' positive behavior changes made within the treatment setting, with the clients' successful return to the community after release from the residential treatment setting.

The Study Of National Character In The Post War Era : The Work Of Erich Fromm, David Riesman, And David Potter, Adam Rittenberg

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the study of national character through the work of the psychologist Erich Fromm, the sociologist David Riesman, and the historian David Potter. Above all Intend to provide a critical exegesis of the three thinkers will relate them to one another by discussing the Interconnections In their thought, beginning with Fromm's social psychological theory of character, turning to Riesman's theory of sociology and, finally, Potter's theory of American history. Each, I argue, must be studied in the context his time--above all the climate of horror and uncertainty at mid-century.

A Comparative Study Of The Characteristics Of High Technology Start-Up Firms, Sandra J. Kiehl

Dissertations and Theses

A sample of two hundred and twenty-five high technology start-up firms located nationwide provided a base for the analysis of characteristics of start-up success. The analysis provides insights into management capabilities which may be generalized to a larger population. For comparison purposes, the sample was divided into two groups: (1) those firms which have not received a venture capital infusion from a formal venture capital company and (2) those firms which have received one or more infusions of venture capital. Aspects of organizational climate, top management team approach, marketing strategy and focus, business planning and the intent to go public …

Career Satisfaction, Adult Development, Academic Preparation, And Other Demographic Characteristics Of Pastors Of Churches Affiliated With Western Evangelical Seminary, James Allen Field

Dissertations and Theses

Purpose. This study was designed to explore possible relationships between the levels of job satisfaction, the stages of adult development, especially as defined by Levinson, and the type and extent of formal educational preparation for pastoral ministry. The primary assumption was that higher levels of education enable the pastor to move through the progressive stages of adult development with a higher level of career satisfaction. Procedure.The data were obtained through a survey of the pastors of the western judicatories of the seven denominations which are in trustee relationship with Western Evangelical Seminary. A three-part questionnaire was developed, including the Ministerial …

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published quarterly. In this issue: PSU faculty experience Middle Eastern and North African cultures through study-travel program; joint program encourages ethnic minorities to become teachers; Portland’s reputation for racist violence; and more.

Adolescent Shoplifting And Situational Stimuli, James A. Chambers

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescent shoplifting has provoked limited and somewhat controversial perspectives within the sociological and psychological literature. These controversies center around the empirical variables used for analysis. A companion argument focuses on the subjective and objective measurement of these variables. This research explicated variables from the sociological literature to test their relationship, using multiple linear regression, to adolescent shoplifting behavior. These variables and situational stimuli were operationalized in a simultaneous model to demonstrate a proximate occurrence of the attitude-situation-behavior reciprocal. This reciprocal is a learning theory which suggests that direct and vicarious experiences accompanied by rewards and punishment, in one's environment, lead …

The Development Of A Social Network Following Geographic Relocation, Joan E. Starker

Dissertations and Theses

The United States is a strikingly mobile nation. Every year almost 20% of its population changes residence and about 45% moves at least once every five years. Economic considerations are a major reason for relocation as persons seek new employment or are transferred by their corporations. Relocation, however, can be a stressful life experience. It removes individuals from daily routines, alters social networks, and may be accompanied by a mixture of sadness, excitement, anger and anxiety. It requires an enormous investment of physical and emotional energy to reestablish order and stability to one's life in a new city. At the …

A Case Study Of Instructional Improvement Through Peer Observation In A Suburban High School, Helen Jean Hanna

Dissertations and Theses

This two-year case study investigated the effects of a peer observation process in a high school on the six selected areas listed below. Peer observation is a process to improve instruction by having teachers observe and critique other teacher's videotapes of classroom teaching. 1. Changes in norms and expectations for sharing instructional ideas among teachers. 2. The perceived value of self-evaluation of videotapes and related peer discussions about teaching. 3. The perceived value of peer feedback exchanges for instructional improvement. 4. The use of other teachers as models for effective teaching. 5. The perceived value of peer exchanges in stimulating …

The Phonology Of Kisi Ideophones, George Tucker Childs

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The category of words which I consider in this paper performs a function often neglected in linguistic analyses, namely, the expressive function: the expression of one's own personal feelings towards the message, Besides expressing the personal feelings or attitudes of the Speaker, ideophones serve the poetic function as well. They add an extra dimension of artistry or play. Expressiveness typically occurs only in special types of discourse, such as in Nootka songs, and possesses a systematicity of its own (Sapir 1915 [1949-188]). Because of the special pragmatics of expressive language, it has often been neglected in more restricted analyses. This …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet January 1988, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The January 1988 Monthly packet includes the January agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held December 1987.

Direct And Indirect Costs Of Tinnitus: Factors For Decisionmaking, Gloria E. Reich

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates the psychological, social and economic costs of tinnitus to affected individuals. A conceptual framework for tinnitus is presented which includes the possible causes of tinnitus, the perception of severity of tinnitus, mediators or agents that can change the perception of tinnitus, tinnitus treatments, and the social and economic effects of tinnitus. Three main factors were studied: 1) whether tinnitus costs can be predicted from perceived severity and other characteristics of tinnitus, 2) whether a scale can be developed to provide information about the subjective measurement of tinnitus severity, and 3) how many people have severe tinnitus. Information …

A Critical Study Of Communications In Land Use Hearings, Douglas J. Warren

Dissertations and Theses

This study addresses a major theoretical issue posed in the literature: can alienation in modern urban society be conceptualized in terms of the communicative competence of speakers taking part in social interaction. Specifically, this study explores the relationship between communicative competence and two observable indications of success in land use hearings: 1) ability to influence the final decision of the Variance Committee and 2) expression of feelings of dissatisfaction with the hearings process, as expressed by the participants. On a broader scale, the study tests Jurgen Habermas's classification of speech acts and the notion that public hearings are a free …

A Study Of Principals' Leadership Behavior In One Suburban School District, Darleen Huber-Dilbeck

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the leadership behavior of principals as perceived by the teachers and principals of one suburban school district. Research questions asked were: (1) Are there significant differences between the perceptions of principals and teachers concerning principals' leadership behavior on the twelve subscales of the LBDQ-XII? (2) Are there significant differences in viewing the leadership role when teachers' age, gender, teaching experience, level of training, or teaching assignment is considered?

This descriptive study invited 350 randomly selected teachers and all of the principals from 35 elementary, intermediate, and high schools in one suburban school …

The Socialization Of Cpep Teachers: Implications For Administration, Jim L. Kuhlmann

Dissertations and Theses

The competencies and needs of those entering the teaching profession have become the subject of public debate since the release of A Nation at Risk. Subsequently many comprehensive and comparative reviews have documented the socialization of those entering the teaching profession especially student teachers and first-year teachers. The problems of beginning teachers have produced survival and self-oriented concerns. Internships and induction programs have been developed to ease the socialization of beginning teachers and mediate these concerns. As internships are developed and induction programs implemented, descriptive field studies which examine the processes of beginning teacher socialization are needed. Particularly, studies which …

Mmpi And The Juvenile Sex Offender Russell Funk, Russell Funk

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the effectiveness of the MMPI in identifying juvenile sex offenders. This study examined the hypothesis that previously identified subscales of the MMPI (i.e., Toobert et al. (1959) Pe scale and Dolan (1986) Ic scale) could be used in discriminating juvenile sex offenders (n=l 02) (and subgroups of juvenile sex offenders i.e., pedophiles n=79, and incest perpetrators n=41) from a control group of 40 juvenile offenders who had been adjudicated for non-sex related crimes. The study yielded results which indicate that the Pe subscale was not effective in discriminating pedophiles from non-pedophile sex offenders or from the control …

Pupil Mobility And Its Effect On Basic Skills Achievement Growth Rates And The Educational Program, Daniel P. Klee

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the study was to compare the basic skills achievement scores of mobile and non-mobile students within the Portland Public Schools. The problem was to assess the effect of this mobility on basic skills achievement and the total educational program. The study was designed to test differences in reading, language usage and mathematics achievement test scores between pupils in the third through the eighth grades. The instrument that was used was the Portland Achievement Levels Tests of reading, language usage and math. These tests are administered to students in grades 3 - 8 in the fall and spring …

Simplified Framework Evaluation Of Large Water Resource Project Impacts, Brian Woodbridge Clowes

Dissertations and Theses

The document most frequently used to support a water resource project's economic feasibility is the commercial benefit-cost analysis, which quantifies tangible and direct project consequences. The objective of this type of analysis is simply to maximize net monetary benefits. This analysis assigns an arbitrary monetary value to ecological and social disruptions, if it does not ignore these effects entirely. An improvement on this method is the social benefit-cost analysis, which assesses sane intangible costs such as air and noise pollution. Unfortunately, even the social analysis usually neglects the sometimes profound effects that a large water resource project has upon quality …